For the past five years, members of Westminster Presbyterian Church have traveled to the Gulf Coast, helping rebuild homes ruined by Hurricane Katrina.
They’ve slept in church basements and befriended the families whose homes they’ve repaired. Like thousands of other church volunteers, they’ve been part of a massive faith-based effort to help that flood-ravaged region recover.
So when Presbyterian Disaster Assistance was looking for a place to house workers coming to assist flood victims in Nashville, Westminster was the first to volunteer.
The church converted a classroom to house volunteers, installed 30 bunk beds and put in two new showers …
The two-way radio squawks repeatedly during the four-and-a-half hour run aboard the Princeton Hall from Juneau to Hoonah, a small village along the Inside Passage. The messages are admiring comments from passing boaters about the 49-ton, 65-foot cruiser built nearly 70 years ago to serve Presbyterian mission in Southeast Alaska.
For nearly 100 years, a series of mission boats — dubbed “The Presbyterian Navy” — plied the waters of “Southeast” visiting the Alaska Native village churches scattered among the islands here. The last of them, the Anna Jackman, ceased service in 1982 and was sold to private owners by Alaska …
Just as ministry partners at all levels of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have been working to address the challenges of preparing leaders, the General Assembly Mission Council heard an exciting update on an innovative pastoral residency program.
For Such a Time as This, which launched in November 2009, is designed to serve underserved congregations and develop missional pastors.
Named for a reference from the book of Esther, For Such a Time as This is a pilot program that seeks to pair small, underserved congregations with recent seminary graduates who are interested in serving where there is need, specifically in small …
The Rev. Gradye Parsons, stated clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has issued the following statement in the wake of the Israeli interception of a convoy of ships on its way to Gaza with humanitarian aid:
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has a long history of ministry and presence with the people of the Middle East and has long advocated for a just and secure peace for Israelis and Palestinians. Because of this, we express our deep concern about the events that occurred on May 31, 2010 — the Israeli interception in international waters of a convoy of …
Haiti’s poverty and problems run far deeper than the damage done by the recent earthquake, said General Assembly Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow after his recent visit to the island nation.
“What I knew intellectually, but saw now with my own eyes, was that Haiti’s poverty and problems were not just because of the earthquake,” he said. “Much has to do with global policies toward Haiti, and the decades of how we have not treated Haiti well.”
Reyes-Chow cited as an example how the United States has pushed Haiti to change its tariffs on rice. As a result, the country now grows …